Urine cadmium levels and albuminuria in a general population from Spain: A gene-environment interaction analysis.

Background: The interaction of cadmium with genes involved in oxidative stress, cadmium metabolism and transport pathways on albuminuria can provide biological insight on the relationship between cadmium and albuminuria at low exposure levels.

Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that specific genotypes in candidate genes may confer increased susceptibility to cadmium exposure.

Methods: Cadmium exposure was estimated by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) in urine from 1397 men and women aged 18-85years participating in the Hortega Study, a representative sample of a general population from Spain.